ABSTRACT
While it can be productive to think of midnight movies either as a genre, often of independent films, or through a mode of more active audience participation, midnight movies are also a developed set of exhibition practices and business strategies designed to market exclusivity. It was this “business” side of midnight that most attracted the form to burgeoning independent filmmaker John Waters. Though commonly referred to as someone who popularized and championed bad taste, Waters’ early films fit around a clear set of strategies to get noticed and become a successful filmmaker and quickly saw that midnight movies were the perfect business strategy to pair with his particular brand of developing content. Through historical research including local newspapers, Waters’ own writing and scholarship on midnight movies this chapter examines the intertwining of these histories and how Waters’ rise to fame was aided by his ability to tap into the swiftly growing cultural interest in midnight movies.
